On February 22, 2026, President Nayib Bukele shared a video clip recalling a speech he originally delivered to foreign business leaders on March, 2025. The repost came amid renewed cartel violence in Mexico, where coordinated criminal retaliation followed a major military operation.
According to Mexican authorities, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, widely known as “El Mencho” and leader of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), was killed during a security operation. In response, cartel-linked groups carried out coordinated “narcobloqueos,” triggering widespread violence in Puerto Vallarta and across much of Jalisco. Roads were blocked, vehicles were set ablaze, and multiple cities experienced significant disruption.
Against that backdrop, Bukele resurfaced his earlier remarks defending El Salvador’s security doctrine. In his 2025 address, he argued that no government lacks the capacity to eliminate organized crime. “I believe there is no government that cannot eliminate crime; that is absurd. The State is always stronger than any criminal organization,” he said, invoking the political concept of the Leviathan to emphasize sovereign authority over territory.
Bukele contrasted the situation in parts of Latin America with countries such as the United States and Canada, noting that despite social challenges and drug consumption, no cartel openly governs entire regions beyond state control. He argued that when criminal groups hold territory, it reflects not structural weakness but institutional failure. When an attendee suggested that such situations occur “because they are in the government,” Bukele replied, “Exactly.”
For U.S. readers and investors monitoring regional stability, the timing of the repost underscores El Salvador’s effort to position its security model as a counterpoint to cartel-driven unrest elsewhere. By revisiting his 2025 message in the wake of events in Mexico, Bukele reinforced his central claim: territorial control is ultimately a question of political will.